Hurricane Relief

Rebuilding Trips of Homes

We continue helping individuals and families living in the affected areas of Humacao, Toa Alta, Toa Abaja, Carolina, San Juan, Yabucoa, and Vieques. We have completed more than 17 homes during our Reconstruye Q project. We continue to assist LGBT folks in Puerto Rico; contact us via email or phone to learn how you can become involved!

Please consider participating as a local volunteer or donating in order to help us rebuild PR. We will host more humanitarian rebuild trips in April, May and June 2019.

Thanks to our volunteers from the US and the UK that made a total success our Reconstruye Q efforts held last year in 2018 and recently in January and April of 2019.

Background Information

Puerto Rico was affected by the worst hurricane in its history in September 2017; it entered through the southeast coast as a category 5 and exited the northwest coast as a category 4. The day after this catastrophic atmospheric event, community members outreached to us to work with them in order to help meet their needs. This included food, drinking water, tarps to cover their roofs, clothing, and toiletries essentials.

During the first 60 days, after this catastrophic event, we were able to provide more than 378 individuals and 63 families (with 51 children under the age of 16) with food, drinking water, and their essentials for survival. About 64 of individuals are considered to be aging or elders and live alone or with their aging partner. And more than 62 were from the LGBT community. Since then and until now, we have provided aide to more than 1,140 individuals, 31% elders 60+, 40% families with children, 42% LGBT community members, and more than 55% live alone.

As of January 2019, we rebuilt, with the help of volunteers from the LGBT and Puerto Rican Diasporas, 17 homes across 8 municipalities. A total of 3,468 volunteer hours were provided by 117 individuals, impacting 17 families and 48 individuals ranging in age from 9 to 93 years old; 85% from the LGBT community.

We have been able to provide families, children, and individuals with food, water, water filters, and personal hygiene items; in sections of Humacao, Yabucoa, Arecibo, Río Grande, Caguas, Juncos, Vieques, Toa Baja, and many areas of San Juan metro, among them, Puerto Nuevo, Old San Juan, Rio Piedras, Caimito, and Santurce.

In many instances, we have been the only ones visiting the areas, in specifically the Humacao area of Candelero Abajo y Arriba and the Arecibo area of Miraflores, no federal nor local government entity had entered or provided assistance in these neighborhoods during the first four months, after the hurricane.

We give thanks to the many volunteers, supporters and sponsors of our efforts – #ReconstruyeQ – special gratitude to the members of the Puerto Rican and LGBT Diaspora from United States, Cuba, United Kingdom, New Zeland & Canada who donated goods, solar-based items, and/or funds to help our work.